Posts Tagged ‘Jay-Z’

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Just in time for your New Year’s Party! Stream or download this mix and let it flow for the night.

This is a mix from a party I recently deejayed… we had 20 somethings to 40 somethings in the crowd. Most of them were from either DC or the Baltimore area. It wasn’t easy finding a mix to satisfy these extremes but judging by the crowd’s reaction, I think I did it. This mix has it all R&B, female emcees, classic east and west coast Hip-hop, Baltimore Club, Go-go, electronica, dancehall, new music and more.

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This is all that’s up right now. I’m so happy to see a mainstream hip hop album bang like this! Watch the Throne, Jay-Z and Kanye West’s epic partnership, will be my official fall hip hop album; that means constant rotation for the next few months. The second single, Otis is that perfect first bite that has you anxious to enjoy the rest of the meal. Otis is the only song on the album solely produced by West. It features a strong sample of Otis Redding’s Try a Little Tenderness. The song is laced with bass that flows down your back in through the floor. Obviously I love good R&B samples, Watch the Throne is full of them, including samples of Nina Simone and Curtis Mayfield. Beyonce, and Frank Ocean of Odd Future make guest appearances and producers include Swizz Beatz, 88-Keys, RZA, Q-Tip, the Neptunes and of course Kanye West. The beats and music throughout the album are so next level, some tracks left me speechless. Lyrically, Jay is at the top of his game, as usual, and I truly believe Kanye is spittin’ the best rhymes of his career. While some critics have gotten into the back and forth of the album’s meaning and exactly what Jay and Kanye were trying to accomplish, I’ll say this… Jay is Jay and Kanye is Kanye; they’re beautifully complex and doing what they do the way they do it – that means discussions of going from broke to insanely rich, regret, arrogance, extravagance, some racial and political commentary; all mixed in with a few “bitches” and sprayed over tight beats.